I’ve been thinking about how kitchen style mirrors the pull of old vs. new in our culture.
I’ve been thinking about how kitchen style mirrors the pull of old vs. new in our culture.Sometimes a single image sets off an emotion-charged debate. That is especially true of kitchen style which seems to be an odd litmus test of how people feel about things going on beneath the surface of our lives, but one that rings true. Recently, I was surprised by the scorn heaped on the kitchen style of this contemporary Bulthaup kitchen in a Berlin apartment — derisively described on the internet as looking “like a warehouse” by people whose kitchens were mainly inspired by a look from 1900. For me, the kitchen looks pleasantly contemporary and architectural – not unlikely in the country where modern architecture was born and where rebuilding from post-World War II destruction only began in 1989 — after the fall of the Berlin wall. And Bulthaup really typifies the high-quality look of the modern “international kitchen” that I believe will lead the way in home style over the next 20 years when we will be forced to use more sustainable building materials and make do with less stuff and less space.
This international kitchen style already exists but for now — with the exception of Ikea — it sits at the high end of the cost an materials spectrum. It’s not surprising that it’s dismissed as challenging or cold since it’s still somewhat rarified. But I believe it will be more accepted (at least in the U.S.) as major change kicks in due to new technology, finances, social structure and ecology. I expect it felt the same way back in 1911 when the telephone was new and industrialization had begun to replace handmade goods. At that time, stoves were still fueled by coal and many kitchens still located in a basement staffed by servants.
Less than a decade later, following World War I, kitchens were becoming modernized and moved upstairs.
So, inevitably some of us are looking forward towards the European/architectural model of streamlined, green and space-efficient kitchens sleek lines, minimal decoration and easy-to-clean flat surfaces and cabinets made of aluminum or glass instead of wood. Poggenpohl’s Porsche Design P’7340 relies on aluminum frames, back-lacquered glass, touch control drawers and doors, interior cabinet lighting and, of course, an audio-visual component.
I adore this Modulnova 20 kitchen look and could easily live with integral drawer features, the Gaggenau all-over induction cooktop, combi-heat ovens, and smart-house digital electronic systems. It looks so clean and easy.
Perhaps this is on my mind because, after 20 years, we are placing our apartment on the market and planning a move to the house we lovingly renovated eight years ago but only have lived in half time. That was my first kitchen redo (2003) and don’t tell Mr. AM but I’m eager to update again (even though it’s in brand-new condition). Shhh! Please!
I don’t mind making this prediction but when the visual shift will kick in is anyone’s guess. Since 2002, I have been watching designers create incredibly handsome kitchens, like this one by Steven Gambrel, which have changed less rather than more and continue to look back a hundred years for kitchen inspiration. These days there’s more furniture in the mix but what I’m talking about (again) is the iconic white Victorian-style rooms with double-tier cabinets, bracket details, hunky appliances, subway tile, old-fashioned farmhouse sinks and historical detailing that ranges from bead board wainscoting, to pendant lights. Lately variations are featuring newer stainless steel sinks and appliances to make us even more amazing but the aesthetic remains decorative and “more.”
Speaking of m-o-r-e, most bizarre is the throwback vogue for steampunk, which I find both hideous and incomprehensible in a kitchen. Anyone who loves this look can knock themselves out ( a result maintaining it will likely produce). Living in a “Gangs of New York” stage set mash up makes no more sense to me than time travel but with a frightening nuclear meltdown to the west and government on its head at home and abroad, perhaps fantasy is more appealing than reality – even in the kitchen.
(Source: NY Times, Steven Gambrel, Internet, Modalnova, Poggenpohl)
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Seems we women are never satisfied with the decorating process are we? I won’t tell your husband, but I adore that second to last picture. Do like my mom and I do. We decorate when my father is on a business trip. He half jokes that he never knows what home he’s going to come back to because the house looks different every time he comes home.
Please excuse me if this is naive and simplistic, and totally lacking in deeper knowledge of design history, but wasn’t that European minimalist, sleek look tried, to some extent, in the 60s? With it possible to be somewhat green and affordable, but still be warm and comfy, I have a hard time believing this other look would ever be huge. I can appreciate it from an artistic viewpoint, but when I see the floors in the white kitchen (so barefootable), and the appeal of the windows and seating, I’m choosing that. I am not trying to argue or even disparage the style…Just thinking out loud. 🙂
I’ve done 2 renos in 5 years and I think I just like to build. Maybe I should work for our contractor part-time and tear up someone else’s house? Actually, my kitchen suits our space.
Rhome — 60s was a whole different look. Not minimalist but modern for then. Right now this look is huge in certain countries and in high end architectural homes here. I honestly do believe it will become standard within 15 years in no small part because it’s green and modular (and very little wood is used). It’s just not as big as traditional in this country — yet. I actually find it very comfortable because there’s no visual clutter. Warm and cozy is relative, of course, as notions ’bout what creates that vary.
Your country kitchen is one of my favorites, so I will side with DH. 😉
I think many comment on how a space makes them feel – if they were living there – instead of seeing it for what it is. The island is gorgeous, great lines. Not keen on the concrete walls but it’s perfect in this loft space.
The Modulnova kitchen is visually stunning.
What do you think the large copper piece is next to the range in the last photo?
My guess about the copper thing: either a hot water tank or a still.
In Germany, Bulthaup is so basic. I’m always surprised by the negative reaction. I see it as brilliant but I completely respect contrary opinions. I photographed pieces in their L.A. showroom which were such genius — something like an oven over a dishwasher. The other piece was a steel table, essentially, with a sink and a cooktop and storage below. Just makes so much sense because its so basic but also well designed and indestructible. Have photos and when I find it I’ll post them.
I do love clean lines…And concrete and steel/metals. As I said, I can always appreciate different styles done well. What I do want, though, are the things I look for in any layout…Adequate workspace in crucial areas and efficient proximity without overcrowding. The top one seems to be missing the workspace, and the Modulnova seems spread too far?
Not that we’re particularly talking layout, but I can’t separate style and layout when it comes to kitchens. The Poggenpohl layout done in the Modulnova finishes is something I think I could love. (Black glass is not something anyone could talk me into) The Modulnova finishes still look touchable and organic, with more texture (or a balance of textures), which is part of warmth to me.
My rambling and wondering thoughts were really more about mass appeal, but I guess if it’s the ‘in thing,’ it can become mainstream.
I just this second got some photos from friends in China…In the background of one pic is the kitchen of glossy, bright blue cabinets under what looks like a concrete counter and with some tiles in earthy whites…If that’s a thing–Grayish and tannish whites mixed together. Anyway, I think this would be part of the “international kitchen style?” And even though I am not a blue person, I really like it, overall, from what I can see.
The only kitchen you’ve shown here that I couldn’t possibly live in is the last one. Yikes.
This is a whole conversation and a really good one, I think. Concept photos don’t always indicate workability — usually they’re done to show style, materials and design concepts, possibilities vs reality that would be specific to any space. One of the things I really like about the Poggenpohl (black glass wouldn’t be my particular choice either but it’s surprisingly popular) is lighting within those cabinets, which is one element with glass cabinets that’s a real boon. Guess I need to think about ways to discuss things like lighting, which in most kitchens is appalling — either there isn’t enough, or it isn’t well integrated with the layout, or it looks like a fixture showroom. F.e.x. in the Gambrel kitchen I count 7 light fixtures in one half of the (albeit large) kitchen.
rhome, I appreciate your thoughtfulness. For me, this is deep tko talk. LOL. Would love to see your Chinese kitchen photos.
Ah, yes…I missed/forgot that they were likely show pictures, not real kitchens.
I did notice the airspace in the white kitchen is VERY busy with hanging light fixtures! I wasn’t in favor of the few strategically placed recessed cans in mine, but kind of glad DH insisted.
I have requested more pics of the kitchen in China. The one I have is mostly our friends’ babies, which I don’t want to put out on the internet…and for TKO conversation, we need a better view of the kitchen anyway. 🙂
Lighting technology hasn’t caught up with other things — yet — though perhaps it will. Mostly it’s centered in the controls or they mess with bulbs color. I don’t understand the aversion to recessed lighting — for me it’s an absolute basic — but I need lots of light and some need much less. When hanging fixtures are treated as general light the “forest” effect takes place. It mostly happens in the kitchen — every quirk anyone has seems to come out in the kitchen. LOL.
Jane you write incredibly intelligent and thoughtful content on your designer blog. I love looking at the designs you choose to feature and I love reading your editorial. It’s a thinking girl’s design blog.
Oh I love these kitchens. I loved the Bulthaup “warehouse kitchen” when first I saw it, I loved Poggenpohl’s copycat version of it, I heart the Poggenpohl Porsche kitchen – black white or magenta(although I might have to pause a step here): sheet glass is so up my street! – and the modulnova kitchen is fab. I do like the Bulthaup nad modulnova finishes a bit more but only because they are metal or matte finishes : except for glass, I’m not big on shiny things.
That said, without a single shiny thing, I find a lot to avoid in the last 2.
Lighting is a very interesting concept – and one that we touched on briefly some time ago. I abhor recessed fixtures – moreso because they are becoming evermoreso ubiquitous. I don’t think that recessed vs. pendant are the only two options there – both are inadequate in the same-but-different sort of way.
I like lots of light also – However, the way to get light into a room and to make it look well lit is with (1) ambient lighting and (2) task lighting.
Ambient light is what makes the room feel and look well-lit and is done by choosing fixtures that provide “indirect light” that illuminates ceiling and walls. There is a lot of illumination to be had with this sort of “indirect light” that gives you the ceiling and wall-wash effect – light bouncing off the ceiling or the walls makes you realize that they and therefore, the whole room is awash in light – and *that* makes the room well-lit. Additionally, you can focus the light either with the recessed or the pendants or table or undercounter or whatever your favorite “spot light”.
The reason I abhor recessed lighting is even if you stuff the ceiling with recessed fixtures, they (a) by definition can only cast spot light on to the floor below (b) can’t illuminate the ceilings or the walls. The upshot is that I walk into a room where I’m assaulted by a million photons of light beaming directly into my cornea but as I look around the room, the walls and ceilings are dark. I really really hate that feeling – being in such rooms makes me feel like I’m in a cave with a million watt spot light. So I stand around squinting trying to avoid the bright spots in the ceiling, squirming at the high contrast between the bright spots and dark ceiling/wall etc, and at the same time wishing that I could actually see the ceiling, feel like I’m in light, and not looking at something with a torch.
These things are low-tech solutions made popular to the masses by places like HD and HD-grade lighing technicians. (Can you tell that the subject makes me het up even without even having to live with this?)
A good lighting engineer, meanwhile, gets you a great mix of ceiling and wall wash fixtures as well as spot lights for task or art jobs or whatever. I was lucky to have worked with one years ago and the upshot was that when we selected fixtures for our kitchen, or for much of the living area of our house, we literally computed the candel-spread functions of the fixtures we were considering for the room(s) we were considering, chose type, number and location to ensure good adequate candel-spread throughout the room (i.e. not just the floor!). The upshot is that in the kitchen, I have 4 or 5 “spot” lights (which I achieved with zoned task lights) and one huge central fixture to provide the ambient/ indirect. Not one of those is a pendant – but the upshot is that the room looks and feels well lit and comfortable without poking your eye out. It isn’t enough to sow by or to do a fine julienne by – for that, I turn on a dedicated task light that throws a targeted beam of light right where I need to work.
Similar story with our living room and our bedrooms. My dining room light is a different story – it has one pendant thing in it and I really really dislike it BECAUSE as much as it does a grand job of lighting up the table, it does a rotten job of illuminating the ceiling.
There is so much to be said for indirect lighting – its one of those where if you have it, you and your eyes know it.
Before I forget, I wanted to echo Puna’s post that JaneF and its editors provide a “thinking girl’s design” perspective to the content they cover. I really love this place. Kudos.
No minimalist and modern goes back before the 60’s, it was tried in the 20’s and even before that. Some of the inspiration from spartan spaces are over 3000 years old. If anything I think more personalization will become the style, especially as people stop flipping houses, or having the idea of a “starter” home.